Goodbee re-elected 1st Ward leader while opponents cry foul

It looked as though Regina Goodbee’s tenure as Albany’s 1st Ward leader might be ending earlier this year when her petitions to run for re-election to her Albany County Democratic Committee seat were invalidated for lacking the required number of signatures.

But Goodbee was re-elected Thursday night amid controversy thanks to some last-minute provisional appointments, made at her request by county Democratic Committee Chairman Matthew Clyne, that gave her enough votes to keep her post.

The ward spans a chunk of the city’s southern side from the Mansion Neighborhood to Graceland Cemetery near the Normanskill.

More than just a spat in a small political fiefdom, the dispute likely hints at the jockeying that is beginning to take place ahead of next year’s city elections.

The move appears to have been legal under the county party’s by-laws (Article 2, Section 3), which empower the county chairman to appoint acting committee members at the recommendation of the ward leader pending their formal appointment at a full county meeting in accordance with state election law.

But former 1st Ward Leader Judith Mazza charged that the move, if nothing else, violates the spirit of the process, which requires would-be committee members to do the actual work of walking their election districts to gather enough petition signatures and get on the ballot.

“Some of them resigned because they didn’t want to do it anymore, and she dragged them back in last night to pack the committee and be elected ward leader,” Mazza fumed. “This is why nobody does anything. This what you don’t have people (involved). This is why everybody throws up their hands and there’s no turnout.”

By Mazza’s count, only seven of the ward’s 24 committee seats were filled by people who circulated petitions. Mazza said six of the seven had been in talks to back a ward leader other than Goodbee, who by day works as deputy city clerk.

Clyne countered that for the committee to function properly all the seats need to be filled and that if Mazza and her allies wanted to control the committee, they should have run candidates in more districts. That, he said, would have prevented Goodbee — who was among those appointed Thursday night — from having so many vacancies to fill.

“There’s 24 seats, and you’ve got a quarter of the seats?” he said. “If they don’t run people in larger districts that are going to to impact the results in the ward then they’re not in a position to be calling out anybody else on it.”

In protest, Mazza and her allies walked out of the meeting. Only one, new member Michael Guidice, stayed behind to observe. Guidice later Tweeted this, which is how I got wind of the dispute (social media plug!):

Wow. Eye opener. I just witnessed the democratic process be abused by Matt Clyne & Regina Goodbee. 1st ward democrats should be outraged.

At stake is more than just the ward leader’s gig, the power of which has waned with the influence of the city and county’s once mighty Democratic machine. First Ward Councilman Dominick Calsolaro, an ally of Mazza and a perpetual thorn in the side of Mayor Jerry Jennings, has not yet said whether he’ll run for a fourth term next year.

In 2009, Calsolaro easily defeated a Jennings and Goodbee-backed candidate, Scott Mannarino, despite losing the committee’s endorsement — after first winning it in a vote ruled procedurally invalid. (See, these things are never simple.)

While controlling the committee doesn’t guarantee the ability to pick Calsolaro’s successor, if there is one, it certainly helps by way of providing at least the framework of an organization.

Also, all signs so far point to Jennings running for re-election again. Jennings won the 1st Ward by 64 votes in his Democratic primary with Councilman Corey Ellis in 2009. It stands to reason that Jennings would prefer to have the leadership in the ward loyal to him and not Calsolaro or any potential mayoral challengers.

Goodbee said she harbors no hard feelings toward Mazza for having her petitions invalidated and dismissed the idea that she or Clyne did anything untoward.

“That’s their view, and they have their opinion,” Goodbee said.

Clyne, meanwhile, is in the process of lining up support to get himself re-elected as county chairman next week. And Mazza, as I noted in today’s Insider column, has applied for Clyne’s job as Democratic county elections commissioner. Her interview with the party’s candidate-selection committee is scheduled for Sunday.

“They will hear from me,” she said. “If this is how you want this party run in this county, it’s all yours. It’s all yours. Because it’s disgusting. … Why would you do this? Why would you do it? When the ward leader herself couldn’t, wouldn’t, didn’t turn in legitimate petitions for her own committee seat?”

Part of the confusion seems to stem from the fact that Mazza and others did not know provisional appointments could be made before next week’s full-committee meeting.

But Clyne said it’s their responsibility to be aware of the rules, which he said are not new.

” The fact of the matter is, the seats were available and should have been filled,” Clyne said. “I don’t think the answer is to storm out of the meeting in protest.”

Jordan Carleo-Evangelist

2 Responses

The disease that has plagued Bethlehem for so long is now seen to be appearing in Albany’s 1st Ward. At the center of this is not just Matt Clyne but what he and his ilk represent: a complete and utter lack of vision, “authority” that rests upon procedures that everyone knows are corrupted, and power plays that even O’Connell and Corning wouldn’t try.

Seriously, who can honestly see even those two characters allowing someone to become ward leader without enough signatures? Even they would scoff at that, as at least there used to be the recognition that without work, you don’t get to be in the Party.

Judith is correct: this is why there are rarely new faces in the Party, and why the new faces don’t stick around once they realize the deal.